Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Vintage Image Stockings

We've had the same stockings for years. And while they have some charm and nostalgia for us, I would never pick them out in a store today and say, "Oh, these are beautiful!" Nope. I would say, "What a ratty, nasty old thing. Does Santa really put edibles in THAT!"

They don't match. My husband's is about eight feel long and super skinny. And green. With a pompom. My daughters' stockings were both made by their aunt. And while I love the home-sewn style, they are red and green, which sounds like it would match all things Christmas, but really doesn't because I very rarely do up the house in traditional colors. My stocking is red. I think. And made of satin. Or did I switch to white last year? In any case, it's obviously not memorable.

Plus, my style has changed. It is always changing. Right now I'm in a vintage/shabby/French country mode. I like all things chippy, shabby, burlap and grain sack and decided my stockings should reflect that style.

So, I got to work making these awesome vintage image stockings. They have cute little vintage graphics on them, ranging from a pic of Santa, to sheet music for Silent Night, to old Christmas ads and even part of "A Visit From Saint Nicholas" by Clement Moore (often called "Twas the Night Before Christmas"). I wish I could tell you where I found them, but I often collect images as I come across them, then use them later. But any similar images would do. I transferred the images to the stockings using Citra Solv. You can read about how to transfer printed images here.

The how-to was pretty simple. I downloaded an oversized stocking pattern from online and traced it onto some excellent grain sack-style fabric. Then I just sewed around the edges. Twice for durability, leaving the top open. My brood can get pretty rough on Christmas mornings. And sometimes poor, old Santa is a bit frantic while filling those things in the dead of night, too.

Once sewn, I frayed the edges by hand. This was very time consuming. I also added burlap, lace and other frills to the top along with a handmade chalkboard tag for the names. I think they turned out pretty sweet. Merry Christmas!